‘Hell’ unfrozen on AMC

Drama's return set with new showrunner

AMC has confirmed the renewal of period drama “Hell on Wheels” for a third season, with John Wirth (“The Cape”) taking over as showrunner.

The skein will premiere its next batch of 10 hourlong episodes in the third quarter of 2013.

A renewal for “Hell” had first been announced in October, but the show was in a sort of limbo when it was revealed that newly named showrunner John Shiban, who was to succeed exec producers Joe and Tony Gayton, would not hold the position after all. The Gaytons remain as consultants.

“As we gear up for season three of ‘Hell on Wheels,’ we are pleased to have such an accomplished showrunner as John Wirth join our team,” said AMC senior veep of scripted development and current programming Susie Fitzgerald. “With the help of our partners at Entertainment One, Endemol and Nomadic, we look forward to a new season of the poetic and pulpy adventures of Cullen Bohannan and the other characters as they build the railroad across the U.S.”

Anson Mount plays Bohannan on the series, which averaged 3.2 million viewers in live-plus-7 during season two.